The New Guardian
by SupernaturalFanatic19
Summary: Being a friend to the Guardians is a lot for Shell Hartford to handle, but when Pitch returns to the surface after two years, he takes a...special interest in her.


**The New Guardian**

**Summary: **Being a friend to the Guardians is a lot for Shell Hartford to handle, but when Pitch returns to the surface after two years, he takes a...special interest in her.

_**Chapter 1**_

"Thank you." I gave a tired smile to the female receptionist in front of me and slowly walked out of the hospital. I had been in a deadly car accident that left the other driver dead and me in the hospital for a week. The other driver had been drunk and everyone had gone "oh that poor guy", or "if it wasn't for the other driver driving late, he would still be alive". Basically the driver's family was blaming his death on me, just because I had been arriving home from introducing my new book.

I had been lucky though. I had a few broken ribs, cuts and bruises and a horrible black eye. My car was totaled and the officers had been kind to get all of my things out of the car before they would scrap it. I limped towards the cab that the hospital had been so kind to call for me to get home.

After arriving to my lovely apartment on the edge of town, I got everything inside and decided to go to sleep. It was already six in the evening and I was tired as hell. So once my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

I woke up around noon the next day, hearing a tapping on my window. I mumbled and slowly opened my eyes, looking at my window. The curtain was open, so I could clearly see a white-haired male floating outside my window.

Jack Frost.

I yawned and got up slowly, walking over to the window and opening it with a small grunt. "Hey Jack."

"Hey, where ya been? Everyone's been worried sick." He asked me, his blue eyes filled with concern.

"I was out of town and then when I came back into town, I got into a car accident. I got lucky though, a few bruised ribs and a black eye." I explained, letting him come inside. I closed the window once he did.

"Want to come to the North Pole for a while?" He asked me, his hand in his pocket and holding his staff over his shoulder.

"Sure, I'm not going to be doing any writing for a while anyway." I nodded, yawning. "Let me take a shower, then we can go."

"Alright Shell."

I grabbed clean clothes to wear and went to my bathroom to take a shower. The bandages I wore around my chest to keep my ribs in place were thankfully waterproof. After my shower, I got dressed in clean clothes and grabbed my shoulder bag/purse, then slid my shoes on. I winced from my ribs and made sure I had my medication.

Jack was sitting on my windowsill when I came back into the room. "How are we getting there?"

The ice boy grinned suddenly and I paled a bit. I knew that grin. "J-Jack..."

"Oh come on, it'll be fun!" he laughed and came over, picking me up under my knees and around my back. He had an easy, but firm grip on me.

"But I don't like heights!" I yelped as he went over to the window and flew out, the wind guiding us. I groaned and buried my face in his shoulder, tightening my grip on him. I really despised heights.

Jack laughed a bit and it took us about a half hour to fly all the way to the North Pole. We went in through the window and Jack gently set me on my feet. It was only mid fall right now, but the Yetis were already making toys for the Christmas holiday. The Yetis greeted Jack and I as we walked through to North's office.

Jack knocked on the door and we both heard Russian coming from inside, before the big man opened the door. "Jack!" He exclaimed, grinning and then looked to me. "And look who you brought!" He knelt down and picked me up by my arms, kissing both of my cheeks. "It is wonderful to see you, _Мой дорогой_!" He smiled and set me down gently. (Translation from Russian: My dear.))

"Nice to see you too, North." I gave a bit of a smile.

The Russian Guardian looked at my black eye and his face lit up with concern. "Tsk, what happened to you Shell?"

"I was in a car accident that left the other driver dead." I replied.

"Well, we are glad you are alright!" North smiled and led us both inside his office. "Cookie?" he suggested, holding out a plate of assorted, baked cookies.

"Sure." I nodded and took a chocolate chip one. Chocolate chip was my ultimate favorite. As I took a bite into it, North and Jack were talking.

"Jack, have you seen anything...unusual lately?" North said to Jack quietly.

"Not really, why? Is Pitch back?"

Pitch? Pitch Black? As in the Boogeyman? North had told me about the so-called Boogeyman and how he nearly destroyed the Guardians two years ago. "No." North replied, shaking his head. "It's becoming that time of year, Halloween."

"What have you got against Halloween?" I asked North, finishing the cookie I had chosen. "Halloween is my favorite holiday, next to Christmas and my birthday."

"Well, during Halloween, children tend to watch scary movies and such, giving off that fear that Pitch exactly needs." North replied. "We're just taking precautions."

"I guess I really can't blame you." I shrugged, sitting down in a chair. "Besides, how scary can the Boogeyman be? He sounds like a real pushover."

"Pitch Black is THE Boogeyman! He is the scariest spirit out there!" North explained.

I scoffed. "Yeah, I've seen humans be scarier than the Boogeyman. Look, why don't I just go down there and go see how bad Pitch Black is?"

"Absolutely not!" North said firmly.

I frowned and leaned back in my seat. "Fine." I mumbled.

Jack and I stayed for quite some time, before it began to get dark. Jack and I said our goodbyes to North and everyone else, before we headed back home. "Hey Jack..."

"I know what you're going to ask." Jack sighed. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt..."

"I won't be there for long." I promised.

He sighed again and nodded, before flying off into the woods. We flew for a while, before we came to a broken bed in the middle of the forest, covering a hole that went deep underground. Jack set me down on my feet. "30 minutes, that's it. If you're not out by then, I'm coming in after you."

I nodded and slowly went down into the hole, grunting softly. I was very careful, not wanting to upset my ribs more than they already were. I finally made it down to the bottom and landed on my feet safely. I looked around, noticing how dark and Gothic everything looked. "Well...at least he has taste." I said to myself and started exploring around.

I thought it would be big, but I didn't think this big. I came to an area that was full of dark, empty cages hanging from the ceiling. I whistled a bit.

"Damn..."

"Who dare invades my home?" A male voice cut out from nowhere.

I gasped and whirled around, seeing nobody behind me, or beside me. The voice was deep and smooth, having a sly edge to it. "Who's there?" I asked, looking around.

"I believe I asked you first." The voice came from behind me and I whirled around, seeing a tall, male-figured shadow on the wall. "Ooooohhh...you're a human. And you can see me? What about the others? The Guardians?"

"Yeah..." I replied, keeping my eye on the shadow.

The shadow's shoulders shook a bit and then I heard the voice laugh. "Ooooh, this is wonderful. A child who believes in me. This is grand." The shadow moved across the wall and then vanished.

"Hey!" I said and followed the shadow, down into another area with stairs and bridges. It was a bit darker than the one I was just in. I wheezed a bit, my ribs groaning from doing only a slight run. I had to be careful. "I thought you were defeated."

"I was." The voice replied. "And I have been stuck down here for two years now, unable to leave my home to gather the fear I so want."

"Gee, I wonder why." I mumbled and walked up a small bridge, stopping to look around.

"Boo."

I instantly whirled around and backed away from the male standing in front of me a few feet. He was tall, dark and lithe, with silver-golden eyes that resembled an eclipse. His hair was black and spiked back, wearing a robe that ended in a V-neck, with shadows casting down his arms. His skin was also a dull-gray color.

Pitch Black, the Boogeyman.

I raised an eyebrow. "You're Pitch Black? Hmm...I'm not impressed."

The Boogeyman gave a bit of a scowl. "Tch, you're not easy to scare, are you?" He questioned.

I shrugged. "Well, now that I've seen you, I'll be leaving." I said and started walking away from him, when he appeared right in front of me. I stepped back away from him. "Uh, no."

"Oh, I think so." He smirked a bit. "It's not often does a human see the Boogeyman, nor believe in him. It's not often either when said human travels into the Boogeyman's lair, with no fear."

"So?" I said.

"This makes you...interesting, for a human." Pitch chuckled and without warning, he snapped his fingers. Nothing happened...until I felt some sort of sensation on my arm.

I looked down at my arm and gasped when I saw a black spider crawled up my arm. "Oh fuck!" I swore and shook my arm to get it off. I then screamed when a bunch of spiders fell from the ceiling, crawling all over my body. I may be 20, but I had a deep fear of spiders. I tried to shake the spiders off, feeling tears leak from the corners of my eyes.

Then, it all vanished. It was all just an illusion and I had fallen for it. I backed away from Pitch, now knowing this was a dumbass idea. I turned on my heel and started running, only to fall in a blast of darkness. I fell through to another room, much more darker and sinister.

"O-okay, this was a bad idea..." I whispered to myself, wincing from my ribs and slowly got up.

Pitch materialized from the corner of the room, hands clasped behind his back. He was chuckling, his golden eyes gleaming with mischievous intent. I got up quickly, backing away from him until my back hit the wall. I gasped softly as his shadow engulfed my smaller frame, his eyes glowing in the darkness. His hand reached up and reached out towards me, soon grasping my chin.

I felt a jolt of unfamiliar electricity go through me and I closed my eyes. "How adorable...you're afraid."

"No...I'm not." I whispered, keeping my eyes shut.

"Yes, you are." He whispered in my ear, his hot breath caressing my skin.

I was about to speak, when we both heard Jack call out my name. Pitch chuckled and released me. "Till we meet again...Shell."

With that, we both vanished and I ended up right back where I was, back at the hole. "Shell!" Jack exclaimed and rushed over to me. "You alright...? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm just tired Jack..." I replied softly.

Jack looked at me with disbelief for a few seconds before he nodded. "Alright, let's get you home."

Jack helped me out of Pitch's lair and as we left, I swear...

I could feel eyes watching us.


End file.
